From Cold War To MAGA: America’s Quest For Greatness Through Two Different Lenses – OpEd
Ayush Kumar SenThe conquest for power and shaping global order is not new; similarly, the call for MAGA (Make America Great Again) is a rhetoric that now has been the voice of every second house in the United States. MAGA mirrors America’s history of seeking to lead the world order unilaterally. MAGA members believe that the US has lost its glorious status to foreign influence, both endogenous (immigration) and exogenous (globalization and liberal economic co-operations). Thus, they firmly believe that the ‘America first’ policy can repair it via policies of protectionism, anti-immigration, ultra-nationalism, and reinstalling industries in the US.
‘Department of Defense’ has been renamed as ‘Department of War’ through an executive order. This reflects the administration’s tilt toward a more aggressive foreign policy, in contrast to previous American idealism and exceptionalism that was a driving force building international order. This poses a central question: How does MAGA compare to America’s rise during the Cold War era?
The Cold War Era: America’s Rise
America, blessed with vast resources and favourable geography, was secure between two oceans. Initially foreign policy was treated as episodic challenges rather than as a permanent enterprise. A society based on equality, liberty, justice, and equal rights felt the need to adopt outward-looking policies. They sought “not dominion, but liberty”.
Former president of the US Roosevelt: “All this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous”.
Woodrow Wilson, in 1917, declared to join the war while maintaining that America’s purpose was not self-interested but universal: “We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion”.
After World War II, President Truman committed to shaping a new international order through a series of crucial initiatives. Launch of Marshall Plan in 1948 to restore Europe’s economic health. The creation of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 1949, as the capstone of the American-sponsored new international order.
The Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 was intended to provide funding and resources for refugees in the United States. In coming years several other laws on immigration and refugees were passed in the US Congress with the liberal approach and got rid of bans based on national origin.
In 1945, after the war ended without redefining the international order by the powers as in the Westphalian agreement of 1648 and at the Vienna Congress in 1815. Truman’s first task was to make concrete Roosevelt’s vision of a realistically conceived international organization named the United Nations. The aim was to ensure collective security, stability, and predictability, which are building blocks of trust, cooperation, peace, and collective growth.
The Cold War era saw the US holding the flag of capitalism, which favoured entrepreneurship and science. This flooded America with great discoveries and rational minds through its universities, which were set free in their conduct— “Art and science flourish in the freedom”. Thus the liberal American policies and social culture resulted in American hegemony in the world order.
Diverging Approach
The 45th and 47th US President Donald J. Trump emphasized the MAGA approach and hyper-nationalism both times. He advances with the rolling back of American standard laissez-faire conservative economic policies to socialistic economic policies.
President Trump increasingly resembles a state-led model of economic intervention, extending political control even deeper into the economy, especially through Trump’s personal targeting of individual business leaders like Tim Cook of Apple, and the government crackdown on businesses’ freedom of expression for example, Merck CEO Ken Frazier quit Trump’s Manufacturing Council after Trump’s “fine people on both sides” remark on Charlottesville. Such oppression on free enterprises and increasing pressure on independent institutions and universities–suppressing the constitutionally protected idols of freedom of expression, a cornerstone of capitalism.
The belligerent foreign policy outlook of the present administration created an unprecedented atmosphere of unpredictability and unreliability in the USA. Not only against the foes but also high tariffs, humiliating statements, and an intimidating tone with the friendly nations as well as allies, making them skeptical of their ties with the US.
The rolling back of the US from its own established institutions for the stable world order–WHO, NATO, etc. This is eroding the trust of the EU’s transatlantic ties. Further, India’s international outlook is principled in the idea of multi-alignment, misunderstood by the US as anti-American. The discomfort among some Western analysts stems from India’s refusal to “choose sides”. For them, multipolarity is acceptable only if controlled within Western-defined limits. An autonomous Global South narrative unsettles these frameworks. The US is using tariffs to narrow trade and fiscal deficit, revive domestic industry, and compelling allies to ‘buy American energy and goods’.
The comparison of America’s quest for greatness in two different time periods is necessary so as to approach the future with a more pragmatic and cooperative approach. One period focused on building alliances and institutions for a stable and predictable world; the other is preoccupied with dismantling them, embracing transactionalism, and unsettling even its closest allies. The America that once prioritized global leadership is now limiting itself to protectionism and isolationism.
The US needs to reimagine its current approach before the reliability and relevance of America are questioned. Henry Kissinger–“In international affairs a reputation for reliability is a more important asset than demonstrations of tactical cleverness”. The way forward lies in balancing national interests with global cooperation—acknowledging this transitioning phase of geopolitics and strategically adjusting its posture. The real question is: can America regain its global influence without sacrificing its core values?
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